Wanderings: Sentiero degli Del, Amalfi Coast

July 12, 2022

The towns on the Amalfi coast were historically connected to the rest of Italy by sea and by donkey trail up and over the mountains. One of these donkey paths (1) is now a hiking trail known as Sentiero degli Dei (The Trail of the Gods). Our original plan had been to hike up from Praiano, then gradually descend west to Positano and take the bus back to Praiano. Our experience with the local bus yesterday encouraged an alternative no-bus plan: ascend from Praiano via the more western path up from town, then take the more easterly trail back down to Praiano.

The ascent from Praiano to the Monastery of Saint Domenic (at about 1,000 feet) is well marked and consists mainly of rough stone stairs. Hiking in the shadow of the mountains during the morning provided some welcome shade. At the monastery's church, we bought some votive candles, but saw no matches or other flames. A brother (2) appeared with a lighter and asked whether we wanted the candles by St. Domenic or by the Madonna; we chose the Madonna. He lit the candle and went to pray.

While enjoying the views and some cold water at the Monastery, we fell into conversation with a young English couple. They had travelled round-trip from Praiano to Pompei via bus and train yesterday: "Look at my red face" the guy said, "this is from waiting for the bus an hour and a half yesterday. The first bus was full, then the second bus never came." Despite the couple's youth, the Monastery was as far up the mountainside as they were going.

We continued on the trail above the monastery. While still easy to follow, the trail was rougher, with some modest rock scrambling required. The people we encountered were mainly from the UK and quite friendly. Near the junction of the trail from Praiano with the Sentiero degli Dei, there is a small guest house selling lemon ice; just the thing after climbing 1,600 feet.

After a lunch of bread and grapes at a picnic table near grazing goats, we reached a water spigot at 1,850 above sea level near the Colle la Serra. The other trail to Praiano starts here and we descended back to the town. A small cogged rail was beside the trail most of the way, used to bring down the grapes and olives at harvest time.

A small, deep cove lies below the hotel down a long flight of steps. Walking here ensured we did at least 1,850 vertical feet today, and offered a refreshing dip in the sea, with a ladder to assist in getting back out.

Back at the hotel, we saw the English couple from the Monastery (he with the red face), who recommended the hotel's Limoncello Spritz to us and another young couple hanging out by the pool. The cocktail is made with lemons growing in the hotel's garden; very tasty, but potent (3).

(1) Judging by the scat on the trail, occasional braying, and a laded animal we encountered, donkeys are still used in the hills.

(2) It may have been a monk. I'm not sure how to tell the difference.

(3) And/or perhaps bread and grapes were not enough for lunch.